BJ Long Company Has Robbed Us

[boudreaux]

It really doesn't surprise me in today's "get rich on each customer" world.
I first noticed this when in the supermarket and saw that there were fewer and fewer of the 35 oz. cans of Italian tomatoes to use in making sauce. They became 28 oz. Then it was coffee beans - big bag used to be 39 oz., now 36 oz.... and on and on.
Hell, my Diamon matches won't always even stay lit long enough for me to light the tobacco. Should I ask for a refund for the ones in the box of 300 that didn't stay lit? (Trust me, they are banking on the fact that you feel it wouldn't be worth your time.)
Nevertheless, go for the throat, Harris! Somebody's gotta do it! (No joke intended) We consumers must be advocates of fairness.

 

[allan]

As I mentioned before, raise the price if you have to but don't try to slide it under the table without some disclosure
Of course as someone mentioned, products in the supermarket are reduced in size and quantity constantly but they usually state "new and improved" or some other BS

 

[oklansas]

Consumerist.com calls this effect of reducing size or quality while maintaing the same price the "grocery shrink-ray" and typically occurs when the raw materials for a product increase in cost. When costs come down, companies will often return the product to its former-size or quality and claim that the product is 20% larger or has an "improved formula."
I agree that this form of trickery is unbecoming and would perfer, as many of you do, that they just raise the price and maintain the original state of the product.

 

[captainpeg]

Sumitted to them a minute ago. Thank you for the information (damn!) and the link.

Randy
Dear Sir or Madam, I have been a pipe smoker for 39 years now, and I've been around long enough to see a lot of things change, some good, some not so good. I'm writing to you to relate a change that I just noticed, brought to my attention on one of 3 internet forums for pipe smokers that I am a member of. He mentioned that he had received the "new" version of the tapered bristle pipe cleaners, ones that were smaller in diameter and certainly not the same product that has created a reputation for excellence and price consciousness that has placed it in the top for most of us for years. If indeed this is true, then I urge you to reconsider (though in truth I believe that someone with a clipboard or behind a desk has decided that it should be done to increase profit), since the product has an intended purpose and it no longer is the best product of it's kind for it's purpose. I submit that nobody there smokes a pipe (at least nobody that makes these decisions)or was even concerned if altering the pipe cleaner from it's original specs would render it less appropriate for it's intended use. Now, in the never ending quest for increased profit, a product has been altered from a great product for it's purpose to notably lesser product that has become an "also ran". Did anyone even go to the many pipe smokers forums to see if altering the cleaners would result in a less desirable product? Did anyone take a poll to see if pipesmokers would rather pay a little more to keep them the same? Probably not, but in the age of the internet, and thousands of pipe smokers represented in at least 20 or more pipe smoking websites, it seems pretty ignorant not to do the due diligence before just grabbing for more money. Please tell me the above scenario isn't true, because if it is, I will no longer be buying this once great product, and it will become a memory, dead from a profit driven stake through the heart. Most sincerely, Randall Pisechko PS - Please check out www.smokersforums.uk and you will see what I mean. There are a hundred sites like it, and we are all pipe smokers. We are your customers....

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Does anyone remember when a 5 cent candy bar was about 4 inches long and an inch thick? Does anyone remember when an education meant you learned something or when cigarettes cost 28 cents a pack?

Let's not forget the days of the nickel cigar and the $2.00 whore, lol

 

[captainsousie]

I hate to think it but they might have caved to the pressure from a larger group of "pipe smokers" for a thinner cleaner. This group of "smokers" does hold a large share of the market which would make it more of a target than us pipe smokers. If I'm being too oblique, the "pipe smokers" I'm talking about are from WA and CO if they're legal.

 

[cigrmaster]

captainpeg, great letter. If they had kept them the same and just charged more or put less in the bag I would not have a problem, but when you take the best bristle cleaner on the market and turn it into just another pipe cleaner, it is just plain stupid.
Craig, I would not be surprised if no one at PC even bothered to open the package and look at the cleaners to see if they were different. I am sure they will take them back, but my problem is no one makes a cleaner as good as the old ones.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I saw this coming. That is why I cellared 110 pounds of the good pipe cleaners. I will be selling some (on briardbid of course) at a healthy premium very soon

 

[gwtwdbss]

I saw this coming. That is why I cellared 110 pounds of the good pipe cleaners. I will be selling some (on briardbid of course) at a healthy premium very soon

Damn, and I just spent my pipe cleaner budget on 3 more pounds of tobacco tins today.

 

[cigrmaster]

roth, good questions which I will find the answers to come Tuesday. What leads me to believe we are screwed is the fact that the packaging except for the color is exactly the same and I mean word for word. I also just checked Ebay and someone is already selling the newer version . They do make regular bristle cleaners which are thinner, but the tapered ones are supposed to be the thicker ones.

 

[captainpeg]

FYI - I didn't copy and paste the email I sent prior to the one above, but it had this site's addy and also one to ASP, Brothers of the Briar, etc. My point to them is that we are out here, we are accessible, and no one bothered.

The previous email to them was shorter, but not terse.

Thanks, all...

Randy

 

[Perique]

Stuff like this has been going on for years, especially with the food we are sold. It masks true inflation. For example: high fructose corn syrup replaces cane sugar, wood pulp replaces wheat-based fillers, GMO soy replaces whey and milk-based proteins, 'pink slime' and such replaces meat.... Etc, etc.

 

[kashmir]

It's like buying a box of cereal, and when you get home and open the box the bag's half empty. Sure they'll blame it on the product "settling" in transit. But I'll bet they half fill em at the factory.

 

[ghost]

I keep coming back to this thread to see if it was all a misunderstanding, I really hope it is.

 

[crazypipe]

I would send them back ::

 

[nsfisher]

Ot-Oh ... Now you've done it, Michael ... Zero to SOLD OUT in 60 seconds

LOL, now I have to go check the site.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Wow... if you get this upset over pipe cleaners, I'd hate to see what happens when your favorite blend of tobacco goes from 1.72 oz tins to 1.20 oz tins or if your favorite pipe maker changes to a different quality briar.
My thought is they are pipe cleaners and its not that big of deal. Of course I'm not partial to anyone type of pipe cleaner either. I guess I'm not that serious about it. I typically use the bristle cleaners, but it really doesn't matter. Hell, I even use my kids craft style pipe cleaners. To be honest they work the best in one of my pipes as it has a really small draft hole. Anyway, its not a big deal to me, but if you're unhappy with them, then send them back and exchange them for some different ones.

 

[waznyf]

How unfortunate. Thanks for the information. I will probably still continue to purchase my pipe cleaners from them. Why, if they were the best and likely still are, would you discontinue your business with them over one batch? You've already stated that no other pipe cleaner compares, so you might as well stick with BJ Long for a little while longer. For all you know this could be just a batch error. I'm sure you've been to the store before and a recall is issued on a large number of a certain product due to a mistake being made. Don't lose faith in them just yet.

"He who angers you, conquers you" -Elizabeth Kenny
-Frank
P.S. I will subscribe to the thread to see what updates come about. I would like to know if this is a permanent change.

 

[ohin3]

I actually like the thinner non tapered regular old BJ Long pipe cleaners or the original Dills. I still have a bunch of bags of the brown labled tapered cleaners if you want them Harris. Someone went to the local B&M to pick me up cleaners one day as a favour and brought them home. I only use one when I am in dire need and my regulars have run out.

 

[locopony]

I didnt pay attention very much when my wife brought some home. I noticed they were thinner but I thiught she was just buying some bargain brand and didnt get the good ones. Then I looked at the package WTH! I'll just get a different brand from now on. They could have raised the price a bit and I would be mildly dissapointed but continued to buy them as everything is more expensive now.